In the Europe 1 program "Historically Vôtre", Stéphane Bern is interested every day in the roots of a word or a phrase of everyday life.
This Tuesday, he returns to the expression "bacon and pig", which designates the fact of hesitating between two fairly similar things.
Every day in the show "Historically yours", Stéphane Bern looks back on the origins of a word that we use every day. This Tuesday, he is interested in the roots of the expression "bacon or pig". This comes from another 17th century phrase, "neither flesh nor fish", widely used by the clergy.
"This has happened to us all one day. We receive a compliment and rather than rejoice in it, we doubt the sincerity of our interlocutor and thus we wonder if it is bacon or pork. The expression 'bacon ou du cochon 'will be born at the end of the 18th century. This means that one hesitates between two things which are a priori identical or in any case very close. A bit like in the expression' white bonnet and white bonnet 'where there , it's frankly the same.
>> Find all the shows of Matthieu Noël and Stéphane Bern every day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Europe 1 as well as in replay and podcast here
A devious expression
The expression 'bacon or pig' actually comes from another expression that was used in the 17th century when we said 'neither meat nor fish'. It was the Church who, during Lent, hesitated for a long time to know what was permitted and what not to consume. The various representatives of the ecclesiastical staff, not having immediately succeeded in finding a consensus on this subject, tore themselves a little.
To make fun of this ragpicker quarrel without much interest for people who did not feel too concerned, we then used the formula 'bacon or pig'. It was a kind of parody of 'neither flesh nor fish'. Let's end with a thought full of common sense from a politician, it's rare, let's take advantage of it: "in my house, when you kill the pig, everyone laughs, except the pig." It's by Edgar Faure ... and Rip the pig! "